Arizona State Senator Dr. Kelli Ward raised $525,000 from 2,100 individuals in 1st fundraising quarter; none of whom were lobbyists or D.C. special interests. Ward is experiencing an outpouring of support from coast to coast, and the country is sending a clear message to Arizona that they want new leadership in the U.S. Senate. They want John McCain defeated.

“My campaign to defeat John McCain has received an outpouring of support in our first fundraising quarter — we’ve raised more than half a million dollars!”

According to Outset Magazine, Kelli Ward’s 2016 campaign for U.S. Senate against John McCain raised over $525,000 in its first FEC fundraising quarter. That is more than the first quarter reports from Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Joni Ernst’s first quarter totals combined during their first Senate races. It also supercedes first-quarter fundraising numbers from leading Republican Senators including Senators Mike Lee, Tom Cotton, and Chris McDaniel.

State Senator Ward is constantly on the road, traveling to all corners of Arizona and in between. She is not only garnering support from the people she meets in person but a multitude of Americans on Social Media. One of the popular hashtags among many Twitter users wanting to replace John McCain in the U.S. Senate is #RetireMcCain. Taking a look at a twelve-hour sample, tweets using the hashtag reached almost 400,000 user timelines. When used in conjunction with the #Ward4US, this combination reaches over 600,000 in that same time frame. Ward interacts with users daily, receiving support and answering questions.

“My contributions, over 2,000 of them, are from individuals in Arizona and across the country who believe it is time to shake up Washington,” Ward told The Republic. “Contrast this to Mr. McCain, who is bought and paid for with the hundreds of thousands he has received in the first half of this year alone from D.C. special interests and lobbyists.”

The director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, Larry Sabato, suggested Ward’s haul was underwhelming.

“It’s OK, but you don’t beat an incumbent senator with fundraising like that,” he said. “You need a big a war chest, or a lot of indirect support, meaning Super PACs and independent expenditures. She does have intense ‘tea party’ support.”